Chapter 2: The Girl

The girl who had been sleeping like a corpse slowly lifted her eyelids.

Fwoosh-

She frowned at the bright light that made her eyes sting, but only for a moment.

“Ah…”

It was the sky.

Not the pitch-black darkness of hell, but a bright blue sky.

She could see… with eyes.

“Aah…”

But I don’t have eyes.

I shouldn’t be able to see this.

She saw trees swaying in the breeze, casting shifting shadows.

She saw sparrows flying about, chirping their songs.

She saw a pale hand wiping away the tears that were spilling out drop by drop.

And the only girl the boy could trust was dead.

He had killed her.

“Mia. Seo Mia.”

Mumbling.

She tried calling the girl’s name in a small voice.

Like her restored sight, the words came out a bit slurred but intact.

It was the soft, delicate voice that could only ever listen before.

So it wasn’t a dream after all.

Mia’s wish to take over her body… it was real.

Plop, plop. Tears fell again.

“Hic-“

She tried hard to hold back her breath, but there was no way to stop the tears that flowed with her sniffles.

It was just like when she’d sacrificed her eyes as payment for a wish, blood trickling from the empty sockets.

This pain…

This feeling of her heart being squeezed…

What wish had it been payment for? What had disappeared?

Was Mia sacrificed because I wanted to live?

The girl gave up resisting.

They said loss wasn’t something humans could resist.

All this pain was just punishment for the sins she’d committed.

Her mom and dad who died protecting her, and now Mia who died because she got involved with her.

It was all her fault.

That’s what she’d been taught.

To never forget her sins and live atoning for them.

She was going to atone as much as she could while alive, then die and find her parents, but…

-Don’t die. Don’t give up, this is my body so don’t use it as you please. Grit your teeth and take care of it. Treat it like it’s me.

Mia’s wish, her whisper, kept echoing in her ears.

She couldn’t die even if she wanted to now.

But…

“What am I supposed to do now?”

The girl was just dazed.

Maybe because she’d cried so much her sleeves were soaked.

Or maybe something had gone wrong when she entered Mia’s body.

No matter how much she thought, she couldn’t come up with a good answer.

But if there was one thing she was sure of…

“Right. If I don’t die, Mia stays alive too.”

It would be okay if she tried hard not to die.

So she just flopped back down where she was.

Let’s try to sort out these emotions until things make sense.

With arms and legs intact, just lying down was enough to make her feel better.

The soft feeling was nice.

“I wish Mia could be here too… hehe…”

She smiled awkwardly at the tickle of grass on her fingertips and an ant crawling up her hand.

An ant.

Even this tiny creature was scurrying about, trying to survive.

What should I do from now on?

A flapping sound came from nearby.

Whoosh-!

With the wind, a sparrow landed on the girl’s arm and pecked at the ant.

Crunch, gulp.

One bite and it was gone.

“Ah.”

Life really is meaningless, huh.

No matter how hard I try to survive, I’m helpless before a greater being.

Well, that’s how it’s always been.

When her parents died and she was passed off to relatives.

When she was passed from the relatives to some rural church.

And finally when she was transferred to the organization’s basement, the girl’s will hadn’t had the slightest influence.

It must be the law of nature.

“But I can’t die like this.”

Should I eat this sparrow too?

The girl stared blankly at the sparrow.

Meeting her clear yellow gaze, the sparrow chirped and tilted its head.

“…Are you copying me?”

Following the girl’s eye movements, it tilted left, then right.

“Hah! You don’t actually understand me, do you?”

She flinched in surprise, her shoulders trembling. The sparrow also shook its body and chirped.

Chirp chirp-

“Mmm. I still can’t bring myself to kill you though.”

Maybe it was because the sparrow’s cry sounded almost like an answer.

The girl completely banished her bad thoughts.

Instead, she carefully reached out and picked up an ant crawling on the ground, offering it to the sparrow.

Chirp chirp-

The little sparrow stretched out its beak and quickly ate the ant.

Its wariness seemed to fade as it gradually moved closer to the girl’s shoulder.

Chirp chirp-

Its cry was louder than before, as if its belly was full. Other sparrows sitting in the trees fluttered down and perched on the girl’s arm.

The first sparrow was about the size of a fist.

It seemed like a daddy sparrow… let’s call it Daddy Sparrow.

The second sparrow was a bit smaller than Daddy Sparrow, so it must be mommy sparrow?

Let’s call it Mommy Sparrow.

The tiny sparrow that ate the last ant and had a full belly.

It looked like a baby sparrow, so let’s call it Baby Sparrow.

“I wonder if you have wishes too?”

At the girl’s question, all three sparrows tilted their heads in unison, as if on cue.

“Pfft, you don’t really understand me, right? Aren’t you going to bring any more friends?”

There were still many other sparrows up in the trees.

It seemed like there were more sparrows in Korea than she’d thought.

But the little ones just stared intently in one direction, as if watching something interesting.

“Is there food over there or something?”

Maybe there was a sunflower field like she’d only heard about.

Maybe there was a village where happy people lived cozily together.

Everyone who had come to the basement had left happy, after all.

People who never came to the basement must be even happier, right?

But that thought only lasted a moment.

BANG-!

“Eek!”

A loud noise like thunder shook the air around them.

The startled girl sprang to her feet.

The sparrows perched on her arm and in the trees all took flight at once.

“Ah…”

What in the world was that sound?

She’d had a chance to make animal friends.

The girl raised one hand blankly towards the sky, but the sparrows didn’t return.

Instead, a strange voice echoed loudly.

“You damn sparrow bastards! I’m not leaving until I catch you all and make skewers out of you! How dare you try to steal from me!”

“Hic!”

A voice full of rage.

It sounded just like her aunt’s voice when she’d hit her, saying she was useless.

The girl’s body began to shake uncontrollably.

It wasn’t just her aunt’s voice.

-You little shit who ate your own parents! Aren’t you sorry to your dead parents? What have you done to deserve three meals a day!

Uncle.

-This is all because of the original sin …you committed! Atone for it!

The evangelist.

-Fuck! There are other things to screw up! You want to atone, right? You want to make other people happy, you little dog?

The Manager.

Whenever she heard voices like this, it was always accompanied by violence.

“W-what should I do?”

I-I can’t die.

The girl flinched at the continuing gunshots, shouts, and curses, unable to move.

Run away? But where to?

It’s no use running away anyway.

If I get caught while running, I’ll just get punished worse.

Her eyes darted wildly.

Her frantically pounding heart made her want to retch.

Somehow, her scalp felt prickly.

Chirp chirp-!

“Huh?”

I wasn’t imagining it!

The three sparrows had returned at some point and were tugging on her hair.

“A-are you telling me to go this way?”

Chirp chirp-!

Her blue hair was pulled taut like a fishing line.

“Okay!”

Seeing the sparrows’ urgent flapping, the girl started running after them.

BANG-!

“That’s right! This top marksman’s still got it!”

A cackling voice came from behind.

Along with the sound of things bursting with wet plops.

Though she didn’t see it directly, the girl sensed that small lives were leaving this world.

Attachment to life, resentment, sorrow…

She felt all those emotions.

It was a horrific slaughter.

If she stopped now and used her power, she could probably stop that person.

Chirp chirp-!

The urging of the Sparrow family – Daddy, Mommy, and Baby.

And remembering Mia’s plea to take care of her body, she just couldn’t stop running.

She tripped over tree roots and fell.

She slipped on leaves and tumbled down.

She kept going until the BANG BANG BANG sounds faded away.

Huff, huff, gasp…

She hid behind a tree, taking ragged breaths.

Her whole body was covered in blood and bruises, wracked with terrible pain.

Why was that person so angry?

Were people living above ground not all happy after all?

“I guess I should have made a wish for that person too…”

The girl was muttering instinctively when-

“Ah! Hey! You crazy bastard! What have you done to my body!”

The girl was definitely keeping her mouth shut and catching her breath, but a very familiar voice rang out from somewhere.

“Mia?”

That was Mia’s voice, wasn’t it?

“Where are you?”

She whipped her head around urgently, but all she could see were the sparrow family.

“! C-could you be Mia?!”

Boom!

The girl had an amazing realization!

Of course! This little sparrow was Mia reincarnated!

“Mia! I’m so glad you’re alive!”

She was so overjoyed that tears started pouring out again.

The girl carefully picked up Baby Sparrow and gently stroked its head.

The sparrow twisted its head at the soft touch, squinting its beady black eyes contentedly.

It seemed to like it.

“…Are you crazy? How could you mistake that bird for me?!”

Huh, it wasn’t her?

The girl tilted her head to the left, and Daddy Sparrow also tilted its head left.

Hmm.

No matter how she looked at it, it seemed too smart to be a normal animal.

Come to think of it, with Mia’s personality, she wouldn’t be this obedient.

Realizing the truth, the girl let out a silly laugh and scratched her head.

Her scalp still stung from how much the sparrows had pulled her hair.

“Fine, whatever. What can I expect from an idiot who didn’t even finish elementary school. So, what were you thinking rolling around like that? Were you trying to kill yourself?”

Her mouth opened on its own and that familiar voice came out.

Unlike when it was just in her head, this was a clear, audible voice.

It felt… strange, but not in a bad way.

“Mia… this is my mouth, right?”

“It’s my mouth too! Now tell me, what the hell happened?!”

Mia was alive, inside her body.

Even though she’d taken over her body, her mind was still there.

A belated sense of guilt hit her.

Her whole body was covered in injuries from running all this way.

Even she knew how important skin was to girls.

“I’m sorry… There was a strange person, so I was running away…”

In response to his straightforward apology, Mia just snorted.

As long as she wasn’t trying to kill herself, it didn’t matter.

“Hmph, these aren’t even real injuries.”

And the injuries started to disappear.

Shhh-

A green energy gathered, erasing the cuts and bruises, restoring smooth skin.

It wasn’t just her arms and legs.

Her stomach had been stinging, probably from hitting a rock when she fell.

Whoosh-

She lifted her top to check, and sure enough, her toned abdomen was completely healed.

Was this…

Awakened Seo Mia’s ability?

“Mia, you’re amaz-!”

Just as she was about to exclaim in admiration-

“You crazy bastard! Why are you looking at my belly! Are you a pervert?!”

Her arms moved on their own, quickly pulling down the top that had been lifted to her chest.

Then a torrent of scolding began.

“You better not do anything weird with my body while I’m watching.”

“Weird things?”

“And I won’t sit by if you hurt yourself like this again.”

“…Again?”

“And… ah, we’re out of time. Most importantly, don’t skip meals. Meals! You! Must! Eat! Got it?”

Mia’s voice, which had seemed so pretty before, was now an earsplitting nag.

But Mia’s consciousness didn’t seem fully stable.

“Mia? Mia?”

She disappeared without warning, just as suddenly as she had appeared.

It felt like being possessed by a ghost.

But the injuries were gone, and she felt no pain.

This… wasn’t a dream, right?

If Mia was alive, she had to do her best to keep her promise too.

“You guys… will stay with me, right…?”

The girl carefully placed Baby Sparrow on her hand and rubbed it against her cheek.

Chirp chirp-!

Baby Sparrow twisted its head in alarm, but didn’t fly away.

What a smart little one.

The girl jumped to her feet and looked around.

Mia said to find food, right?

But she didn’t know what to eat, so she decided to search the area first.

In the basement, they always brought food for her.

Could she eat those mushrooms over there?

After thinking for a moment, the girl slowly reached out her hand.

They looked white and clean, and were quite big, so they seemed like they’d be fine to eat.

Poke-

She touched one with her fingertip and felt a squishy texture.

It was so firm that it bounced back each time she poked it, which was kind of cute.

So it should be okay to eat.

Pluck.

The girl plucked off one large mushroom.

Chirp chirp! Squawk!

The sparrow family must have gotten hungry from all that flying – they kept pecking at the girl’s hand, trying to steal the mushroom.

“No, I need to eat too.”

The girl pushed the sparrows away and sniffed the mushroom.

It smelled earthy.

Was there somewhere she could wash the mushroom?

She looked around but didn’t see any water.

“Hmm… eating a little dirt was fine before, so this should be okay.”

After wiping it roughly on her shirt, the even whiter surface looked pretty appetizing.

“Aaah-“

Nom.

She took a big bite.

The umbrella-like cap broke off with a snap.

As she chewed, the firm texture and bitter taste were quite good.

Gulp.

It was more edible than she’d expected.

No dirt stuck in her teeth either.

So she started nibbling on the stem too.

Chirp chirp chirp-! Squawk-!

The sparrow family pecked at her head and danced around angrily, as if complaining that she was eating all by herself.

“Mmm, I’ll finish eating and then get some for you. Wait.”

Of course, one mushroom wasn’t enough.

Mia had emphasized several times that she absolutely must eat proper meals.

She should probably eat until she was full.

The girl diligently wandered around gathering and eating white mushrooms, not even noticing as the sun began to set.

“…Huh?”

She only sensed something was off in the pitch darkness of night.

—